In 1949 after returning to the States, a Berlin Airlift crew crashes in an unexplored area of South America. Only two of the five-man crew survive. The information is closely held—only President Truman and a select few know the cause of the crash. On national security grounds, the information is classified 'Top Secret' and sealed for fifty years.

After spending a year in the jungle with aborigines the surviving crewmembers finally reach Cayenne, French Guiana. Neither crewman has any idea what caused the explosion that forced them down. Through the years the flight engineer, Technical Sergeant Fred Barnes, blames the death of his crewmembers on something he did or didn't do that he should have.

When Barnes learns that wreckage from his aircraft has been located he flies to Cayenne. Barnes examines the wreckage and is shocked when he discovers why President Truman classified the accident 'Top Secret'.